I wasn’t sure who Plant City’s next head football coach would be when I wrote my Friday, March 31, column, but my intuition was right on the money: the school hired from outside the program last week. By the looks of it, I’d say the school definitely wanted to make a splash.
James Booth has the kind of resumé that Raider fans were hoping for, running Manatee’s high-powered offense for the last three seasons. Knowing what kind of production he can get out of a quarterback, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Raiders transition from a run-first mentality to an up-tempo, pass-heavy attack — but we’ll have more on that in a few months, once Booth gets a better idea of what his crop of kids can do on the field. That’ll be something for our annual Football Guide, coming your way in August.
Booth knows Tampa Bay-area football well, having coached at an 8A school for the last three years and having played here during his own high school career. He even mentioned going up against Plant City legend Antwan Fleming back in the day. He knows what it takes to win games in one of the toughest counties in the states, and his Manatee teams were no strangers to the playoffs.
Just don’t read that last sentence and expect Plant City to revert back to 2015 form right away — there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done and, as followers of 7A-9 football know, the only thing harder than battling for the second playoff spot is battling Tampa Bay Tech for the championship. With the Titans returning several key starters, including three-star quarterback Mike Penix Jr., no one’s going to have an easy time clinching a spot.
From what I could tell, it seemed that the players clicked with Booth pretty quickly in that Friday meeting. There were many murmurs of agreement when the coach touched on certain areas of his plan for Plant City, from switching things up on offense and defense to changing the culture of the program itself. They sounded ready to buy into his motto, “Compete,” and earn their playing time.
At the moment, I’m of the opinion that this was a smart hire by Plant City.
Of course, it still remains to be seen what he does with the coaching staff, what happens with transfers — as tired as Booth is of hearing about the new rule — and how everything comes together on the field.
I’m also still urging Plant City fans to stay patient with the team. But, all things considered, I think Booth could help the Raiders get back on the right track.